this is fox 5 news at 10:00. all eyes on sandy. right now the hurricane spinning toward the east coast and is expected to morph into a super storm. tonight fox 5 has complete coverage as the d.c. area braces for heavy rains, whipping winds and flooding. the district, maryland and virginia have already declared states of emergency. thanks for joining us tonight.

i'm brian bolter. >> i'm shawn yancy. forecasters fear sandy will turn into what they are calling a frankenstorm, a monster combination of wind, rain and maybe even some snow. sue palka begins our storm coverage with the latest on sandy's track. >> yeah, you look at the picture behind you you were showing radar and you wouldn't think this looks like that kind of a monster storm, but, in fact, we do believe it's going to pull some cold energy, winter-like storm that's coming from the west into itself and become that mega storm that everybody has been talking. about so it will go from a tropical storm to a very strong almost nor'easterlike storm here in the next 36 to 48 hours. now it's still tropical with winds of 75 miles an hour making it a category 1 hurricane. it doesn't look very good, wouldn't be surprised when we get the new track at 11:00, maybe it's tropical storm sandy. it's moving very slowly, but the strength of the system at this point is not a great concern to us. we know it will turn to the northeast a while and over the weekend it will be out over

these unusually warm atlantic waters. then monday it starts making a hard left and virtually every model we use to track these things makes it take that hard left. it's blocked by high pressure to the north and then it looks like it will come in somewhere near the delaware bay, maybe absorb new jersey, but look at this -- southern new jersey, but look at this big wide cone. national hurricane center says you have to pay attention to the whole cone because when you get three days out like this, the track could be off by 150 to 200 miles. so virtually everyone from southeastern virginia all the way up into southern new england has to continue to watch and see where this thing will come ashore. right now it's very close to the delaware bay late monday night into tuesday. it would then track across northeastern maryland into pennsylvania where it continues to sit and spin for potentially a little bit longer up there. so on that track what can we expect locally from what will be hurricane sandy and then eventually this nor'easter? we expect things to go downhill hee sunday afternoon with rain

and wind increasing. that means you have most of tomorrow to prepare your house to, get the leaves out of the storm drain, to get in what you might need if we have a power outage to make sure you have batteries and get everything off the front and back porch that you don't want to become some kind of object that can blow around. peak effects here will be monday night into tuesday and maybe all day tuesday. we're talking torrential downpours, several inches of rain and damaging winds that could blow sustained 40 to 60 miles an hour and gusting higher. that means our biest concern now, you have to prepare for power outages, some of which could last multiple days and it will certainly be over multiple states. gary is standing by with more on that wind field. that's going to be a huge part of this story. >> a very broad wind field, too. the red ring is the center of the storm there, the circle. we want to track this up. this is sunday morning at 11

a.m. storm is still probably a marginal tropical storm or weak hurricane coming up the east coast. as we get to monday at 6:00, we're already beginning to feel the effects of the winds along the coastal areas in excess of 50 miles per hour up through the delmarva, new jersey and up towards long island and eventually rhode island and the cape, but that's when we take the turn. so by tuesday morning we think we'll be into the wind package of this storm. i want you to see the direction of the wind with these arrows here. most of the wind right now with the storm on this track will keep the winds, our winds, coming from the northwest and the west. that will help keep at least a lot of the water from building up in the bay. that may limit some of the flooding hopefully if this is the case. keep in mind if the storm moves farther to the south, all of this could change. if it moves a little farther to the north, we'll stay on this north to northwesterly flow, but that will allow some very cold air to come through.

wednesday morning the winds are dying down. we continue with that westerly and northwesterly wind. by thursday morning the storm is relaxing and trying to creep up to the and northeast. here's what we see in terms of the wind gust. this represents monday at 4:00. we'll have gusts of 34 miles per hour here in washington. generally speaking, 30 to 35 miles per hour, but as we take you up to tuesday morning when we think we'll be in the grips of this storm, wind gusts potentially close to 60 miles an hour, if not a bit more than that. still tuesday evening we're at 45 to 46 miles per hour and by wednesday morning still gusty, but the winds are calming down a little bit. brian, you can see 100 miles here or there will make a big deal with the flooding and winds that we end up getting from sandy. >> a lot of people spent their friday night stocking up in preparation of this thing. grocery stores like this one in northeast passed out flyers to customers listing essential items to have during

the storm like water and nonperishable foods. that's not all. while utility companies prepare for hundreds of thousands of power outages, potentially you need to be prepared in case the lights go out at your house. fox 5's bob barnard tells you what else you'll need. >> reporter: contractors were trimming trees this morning in north west washington, part of pepco's year-round efforts to better protect its power lines certainly facing another major test in the coming days. >> this is a hurricane. a hurricane is a major event wherever it makes landfall wherever the cone of the winds are. there will be significant damage. it's too early to tell exactly where that will be. >> reporter: inside pepco's emergency command center in bethesda they're watching sandy, have already activated their emergency teams and are calling in reenforcements. >> we're actually doing everything we possibly can to prepare. >> reporter: pepco regional president tom graham says they'll need to repair damaged infrastructure before getting into neighborhoods, but there

is time to prepare in this case. >> the difference between what we just experienced on june 29th in the derecho is something that came through the system very quickly. this is something that's going to come on our system and sit. >> reporter: what about the rest of us? what are we doing to get ready for sandy? at home depot in bethesda storm supplies are flying out of the store, flashlights and batteries, bottled water. that's sand, no bags. >> eat out of a canif you can't get the stove going. i'm a girl scout, you know. just be prepared. >> reporter: store manager jason carlson says there's been a rush on generators, this, an eight hundred-dollar one. well, it's already been sold. >> right now we're out, but we're woking on getting more in. we brought some in from another store last evening. first thing this morning they were out the door. >> reporter: now pepco officials have a warning for everybody and that is during the storm and afterward if you see a downed power line,

consider it hot. it likely is. in bethesda, bob barnard, fox 5 news. it's not just residents, but area utility companies are also worried about the storms tonight. sandy is expected to cause major flooding across the region. neighbors in the bloomingdale section of the district are concerned they will be hit hard once again. this summer's derecho storm flooded many homes and businesses there. earlier todaying d.c. water crew -- today d.c. water crews were cleaning out storm drains across the neighborhood. >> we're going to be down here working all day. >> homeowners are getting ready buying batteries and other supplies to make sure they are ready for whatever sandy brings our way. d.c. mayor vincent gray has already declared a state of emergency in the district and joins us here tonight. thanks for being here. a lot of people are worried about what is going to happen if this storm comes ashore like it did in 2003 with isabel. it's going to be a huge mess.

what preparations are underway? >> we're working to make sure we'll have sandbags to start distributing tomorrow at rfk stadium in lot 7 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and we have a special distribution at first and rhode island avenue in bloomingdale because wknow the potential consequences there. we're also really working hard as you just heard to get as many leaves off the ground as we possibly can because if those leaves start to go down into the catch basin and the storm drains, they'll clog it up and cause more flooding than we otherwise would have had. >> let's talk about the power problems. we know with the summer derecho storm a lot of people were out of power. have you talked to pepco about their preparations and then how they will handle the situation if we see massive power outages? >> i have. we've been working actually very closely with pepco now the last two to three months. we appointed a task force to work on reliability done in concert with pepco.

i had a conversation just this evening with joe rigby, who is the ceo of pepco. indicated to me they're bringing an -- he indicated to me they're bringing an unprecedented number of additional people into the metropolitan washington area to try to work on what undoubtedly will be power outages if this storm hits with the ferocity predicted. >> are there any plans in place say we're witut power for an extended amount of time? will you open up shelters? have you talked about that? >> we've already planned for it. we'll have at least two shelters available in each ward of the district of columbia. so that's a minimum of 16 shelters that will be available so people can get to something that's very close by, either be a school or recreation center. >> what advice do you have for the folks watching tonight? we've heard some people saoh, this is just hype. people are blowing this out of proportion. >> i think first of all, take this seriously and look at your own home. if you haven't cleaned out your

storm drains or your gutters or whatever the case may be, get up there and do it because water overflow could get into people's homes. if you have -- if you're subject to flooding, make sure you go get sandbags. stay off the street once the rain start because that's only going to make it more difficult, but first and foremost, take this seriously. this is a serious storm. >> certainly good advice. is there going to be a special number people can call or is that 311 number -- >> 311. >> okay. >> our operation center which is part of our homeland security and emergency management agency will be up and running throughout the time of the storm. >> d.c. mayor vincent gray, thanks so much for coming in. we appreciate it. >> thanks, shawn. metro also getting ready for hurricane sandy. the transit agency is placing sandbags around stations where flooding could be a problem. workers are checking pumping stations and clearing drainage areas near stations and railyards. metro is encouraging riders to

check its website and sign up for alerts on their phones or computers. track work will continue this weekend as scheduled. this will be brief delays on parts of the red, orange, blue and green lines. stay with fox 5 the next 90 minutes as we track hurricane sandy and remember to download the fox 5 weather app for instant access to the forecast featuring live hd radar, updated videos from our meteorologists, weather alerts and more. you can use it to submit your weather pictures and videos with a click. you can download it on your ipad, iphone or droid. following breaking news out of maryland, two people shot in a quiet upscale neighborhood, the gunman still on the run. >> plus a wild shootout during an armored car robbery and that's just the beginning of the story coming up.  anncr: their ads, hopelessly untrue.

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allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee... is responsible for the content of this advertising. when we think no one is looking. is what we do... mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. we are following breaking news in waldorf, maryland. a man and woman were shot while walking on a path behind westlake high school. one of them has died and tonight the shooter is still on the run. fox 5's audrey barnes on live

on the scene. what happened? >> reporter: i'm at the entrance to that footpath on hampshire circle at gopher court. behind me is where police blocked off the entrance. a couple in their 40s were out walking their dog about 7:15 tonight when they encountered a lone gunman who unloaded his handgun shooting the couple multiple times and as you said, the woman in their 40s has died. police are still -- her 40s has died. police are still on the scene. i want to bring in diane richardson from the charles county sheriff's office to give us more information. at this point do you have any idea what the motive was behind the shooting? >> no. first this is highly unusual in this area and quite frankly very upsetting because this is a very quiet area. apparently this suspect was on the footpath and for unknown reasons he just fired shots at victims and struck them multiple times. they were transported to a hospital where the female was pronounced dead a short time later. >> reporter: at this point do

you have a lookout for the suspect? >> we don't, but sheriff coffey authorized an increase in the reward. a lot of people were in the area and heard the gunshots and tended to the victims, so we're hoping somebody will call us with information that can shed some light on this. >> reporter: has there been trouble on this footpath before? wen just to set the scene for people this path leads from the neighborhood towards westlake high school and other places on that other street behind here, but it's a popular path with kids. any trouble here before? >> no. it's pretty quiet over here. again it's very unusual this happened. so we're hoping anybody who has information will give us a call. we have a wonderful community, people who get involved and we hope somebody saw something and call us. >> reporter: the number to give information? >> 1-866-411-tips. >> reporter: thank you very much diane richardson from charles county sheriff's office. that's the scene. a woman in her 40s has died,

her husband in serious condition after a shooting 7:15, hampshire circle at gopher court. . also a developing story in montgomery county police are investigating an armored car robert and shootout in takoma park. the wild scene unfolded this evening at a busy shopping center near the intersection of university boulevard and new hampshire avenue. fox 5's maureen umeh is in the newsroom with the details. >> the suspect got away with the money, then shot a man after carjacking him a few blocks from robbery scene, but the story doesn't end there. takoma park police say this is the shooting victim's car set on fire and abandoned in an alley on the 5200 block of kansas avenue in northwest d.c. the fiery scene was the end of a while robbery and shootout that left an innocent man shot. >> what we have is he was a resident going to work at this time, but that's all we have. >> the incident began around 5:00 as an armored car driver

was trying to make a delivery at this cricket phone star at the shopping center in takoma park. the driver was approached by two masked suspects who opened fire. >> the suspect tried to rob him, two suspects. there was an ex chang of gunfire between the guard -- exchange of gunfire between the guard and suspect. they fled the scene in a vehicle we believe was stolen. >> there was flying glass and maybe ricochets, but no penetrating wounds that required medical treatment at this time. >> the bullet shattered a window at the cricket store and hit several cars. the suspects got way and ditched their get-away car on conway avenue just blocks from the robbery scene. the car was riddled with bullets, a window and tire set out. the suspects then set their sights on an innocent man attacking him to help make their final get-away. >> they apparently carjacked another civilian, shot him, took his car and that car subsequently was recovered in

d.c. d.c. >> the shooting victim's condition isn't known. police don't know how much money the suspects got away with. continuing our coverage of hurricane sandy next, the storm already having an impact on the campaign trail. that could include early voting in our area. >> later on the news edge is your house ready for sandy? not if your gutters are filled with leaves, tips how to protect your property at 11:00. anncr: which do you believe? what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitttt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade.

hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. and this is maryland. teacher: this is west virginia, pennsylvania, delaware. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million gaming at casinos in these other states. question seven will build a new casino and bring

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his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. hurricane sandy still days away, but the storm is already having an effect on the presidential race. let's bring in fox 5's will thomas with a look at where things stand in the hurricane sandy effect. >> sandy is definitely throwing a wrench into the last days of the race. mitt romney canceled a rally scheduled for sunday evening in virginia beach. vice president joe biden canceled a trip to virginia beach on saturday to ensure

local resources could be focused on preps and safety and early voting in maryland possibly affected. it's supposed to start tomorrow through thursday, but it may be postponed, moved to other locations or other options, but ahead of sandy the candidates continue their frantic pace. it's billed as kind of an exclamation point to the closing argument. mitt romney delivering an economic speech in ames, iowa. >> we'll create 12 million jobs in four years, see rising take- home pay and get our economy growing at 4%. >> reporter: the romney team isn't hurting for money raking in $111 million in the first half of october. that's 20 million more than the president and much of that money is being spent in ohio. both romney and president obama are hitting the buckeye state hard. >> i've got a plan that will actually create jobs, a plan

that will actually create middle class security. >> this ohio rally the last stop on a 48 hour battleground blitz. a new fox news poll of the swing state of virginia shows the obama/biden team down two points. the democratic ticket won virginia in 2008, the first democratic ticket to do so since 1964. there he is, mark plotkin with us again tonight. the president behind a couple points in virginia. what do you make of that? >> well, virginia is basically a republican state and they've had a good series of victories. governor bob mcdonnell won in 2009. they won the lieutenant governorship, the attorney generalship, became even in the state and have overriding majorities in the statehouse and if is basically a republican state and the -- it is basically a republican state and the president is counting on the changing demographics in

virginia and as you said, it was 40 years before they actually won a presidential contest in virginia. so it's an uphill battle. >> assuming we have significant dang from sandy, do you expect the candidates to -- damage from sandy, do you expect the candidates to head to those damaged areas because they have to be careful not to look like they're taking advantage of the situation. >> but they also have to look like they are empathetic and they care and they don't want to get in the way of the relief or rescue operations, but i think they have to show some visibility and some evidence of feeling for those people that are affected. i think both candidates will do that. >> you might agree president obama might have the upper hand in that case because he is the sitting president. >> yes. the president is expected to be there. >> with sandy possibly affecting early voting, who gets hurt more here, mark? >> well in, maryland -- there are only four states that voted more strongly for obama. so that's not a question and maryland, virginia early voting is very much restricted.

early voting democrats feel helps them and they point to ohio and iowa, two states which they won, but if it was just based on election day voting, they would have lost. that's why the president went to chicago early and voted as an example. so anything that crimps early voting or restricts early voting hurts the democrats. >> it is a close end to this race. always good to have you here, mark plotkin. >> thanks, will. more fallout from that secret recording showing the son of virginia congressman jim moran discussing a plan to cast fraudulent votes. the state bore of elections voted unanimous -- board of elections voted unanimously today that there is an investigation. patrick moran has since resigned from his father's campaign. our storm coverage continues on the o the break. up next we're talking more about pepco about their preparations and what you can

do to get ready for sandy. >> a preview of the marine corps marathon this weekend including what you need to know if you're riding the rails. my name is julian bond. i know a little something about fighting for what's right and just. maryland's gay and lesbian families share the same values and they should share in the right to marry. i believe people of faith understand this isn't about any one religious belief. it's about protecting the civil right to make a lifelong commitment to the person you love. join me in supporting question 6.

it's the right thing to do. athat's what the plan georged allen supports... would cost our economy. newspapers called it "economically destructive." like allen's votes to give tax breaks to companies... that ship jobs overseas, his economic plan would... help big corporations, devastating the middle class. allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee... is responsible for the content of this advertising.

what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

hurricane sandy's deadly force leaving a path of destruction in the bahamas and caribbean. the storms flooded towns, buried cars in the sand and downed trees and power lines. at least 40 people have been killed and states of emergency have been declared in d.c., maryland and virginia. let's get right to sue palka with more on the impact sandy could have on our area. >> it looks like things will go downhill beginning about sunday afternoon continuing through probably much of tuesday. it doesn't look like your traditional hurricane, but it's got a lot of energy associated with it. at the moment it's still a category 1 with 75-mile an hour winds and 400 miles south,

southeast of charlton. it's moving very, very slowly only to the north at 7 and just a heads up at the top of our news edge at 11:00 we should have the newest track from the national hurricane center and will share that with you at the top of our broadcast. some of the clouds in our area are associated. there are a couple sprinkles to our south. saturday we could see a sprinkle here and there, a light shower, certainly a lot of clouds, but look out toward cleveland. that is the leading edge of much colder air and it is a huge factor why this thing will change from a tropical system into as our colleagues at accuweather called it a nor'easter on steroids. that process begins sometime on monday as that colder air with that winter-like system starts to merge with our tropical system off the coast. we have some winter storm watches already up for many counties in west virginia in

the central appalachians. that will begin sunday night, their first really significant snow, the possibility of 8 to 10 inches of snow or more existing. now we've got flood watches issued. those kick in late saturday night for places like salisbury, ocean city. in the areas i just mentioned we'll have flood watches as early as tomorrow night, you could be seeing 6 to 8 inches of rain through the course of this. in the metro area we'll say now 4 to 6 inches, but this track could still be in play by 150 to 200 miles and that would change some of those numbers. we're looking forward to seest that newest track from the -- seeing that newing track from the hurricane center. what are utilities doing to prepare for potential power outages? joining us is pepco spokesperson myra opal. >> the company mobilized all

our employees and locked in availability of contractors already working on our system and then we requested an additional 2,500 line personnel through mutual assistance groups. so we are doing what we can to get ready for the storm. we do warn customers they also need to prepare. we expect this can take several days to restore power. one of the challenges we face is the slow movement this storm is making. it may come onto her system and hang here a couple days -- our system and hang her a couple of days before we -- here a couple days before we even get out to be able to start restoring power. one of the differences between this storm and the derecho this summer is the advance notice. the derecho was on our system with virtually no notice. we have the luxury this time knowing several days in advance. again we have already requested crews from other utilities. >> i guess my question is --

>> we have hundreds already on their way here. >> my question is snowstorms we get plenty of advance snow and customers would complain about past performance during snowstorms. you have advance notice this time around. are you doing anything different this time than past storms? >> well, one of the things that i think will make a difference is our reliability enhancement work that we've been doing for a couple years now. the work that we have done in terms of trimming trees and upgrading our equipment and that sort of thing we hope will decrease the amount of outages we have. we have hardened our system. this is when it begins to pay off is on storms like this. we can't control entire trees that come down on our poles and wires, but where we have been able to trim, it will mitigate the damages. >> thank you for joining us. sandy may be heading our way, but it should not interfere with the marine corps

marathon sunday morning. metro will open two hours early at 5 a.m. to accommodate runners and people gathering to cheer them on in arlington including our own matt fleischer. race organizers held a special event today to honor past runners and introduce this year's grand marshal, actor and comedian and u.s. marine rob riggle. >> was in new york on 9/11 and my reserve unit was the only reserve unit in man mat an. so we were -- manhattan. so we were activated. my co said report the morning of the 12th which i did and started moving rubble by hand in the bucket brigades. >> some will place cones along the course and others will hand

out drinks and medals. talking skins football next, got an injury update on a key defensive player, but rg3's thoughts on playing in steel city.   this fox 5 stock market report is brought to you by your lexus dealer. live life heroically. anncr: seven-hundred-thousand jobs. that's what the plan george allen supports... would cost our economy. newspapers called it "economically destructive." like allen's votes to give tax breaks to companies... that ship jobs overseas, his economic plan would... help big corporations, devastating the middle class. allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee... is responsible for the content of this advertising.

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when we think no one is looking. is what we do... earning 1% cash back mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

this sunday the redskins travel to the keystone state to take on the pittsburgh steelers. this will be rg3's first trip to the steel city. lindsay joins us with a preview. >> we have been on london fletcher tracker this week. the redskins ironman has a hamstring sprain and was experiencing balance issues this week and being evaluated by a enrolls. today positive results, no con -- a neurologist. today positive results, no concussion and he got through practice this week.

as for robert griffin, iii, this will be his first trip to pittsburgh, but so far on the road griffin and the redskins have won twice beating the saints in new orleans and the bucs in tampa. chris cooley will more than likely see time on sunday at the tight end position. logan paulsen will be the starter at that spot, but for griffin who faced a hostile crowd last week in new jersey against the giants going on the road in the steel city just another check in the experience category. >> i look forward to it, look forward to going out there and seeing how their fans are. i'm pretty sure it's going to be their fan base is very fanatic and i take in all those experiences, but at the same time i know i'm there to do a job. it will be fun. it will be loud and it's our job to go out there and execute. >> i played in pittsburgh in my rookie year. it was one of my all time favorite away games. that place is insane. i feel lucky just to be back and i woke up monday morning and i thought i'm honestly

going to be playing football in pittsburgh six days from now. that's kind of mind blowing to me, but it will be a great atmosphere and i'm looking forward to any chance i get to play. >> mike shanahan was tight lipped when asked about cooley's role this week. one other note, london fletcher's streak of 231 consecutive games played could be on the line sunday. >> we're keeping our fingers crossed for him. we have continuing coverage of hurricane sandy tonight on the news edge. we could face power outages and flooding. we'll talk with metro about how that agency plans to keep train stations dry. >> have you checked your gutters? fall leaves could cause drainage problems once the storm hits, tips to protect your property at 11:00. anncr: which do you believe?

what mitt romney's tv ads say about women? or what mitt romney himself says? mitt romney: do i believe the supreme court... should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they, that they... reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that.

i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. anncr: no matter what mitt romney's ads say. we know what he'll do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. all eyes on hurricane sandy and the impact the storm will have here in our area. >> isn't it great we have some time to get ready for it as nasty as it's going to be potentially? by the way, in a little bit we should have an updated forecast

track from the national hurricane center at 11:00. we'll bring that to you. as things stand right now, you can certainly get a lot of good preparation work done, get some groceries. i understand it's getting hard to find water bottles and things like that. we prepare for the worst and hope for the best with this thing. we do know sunday afternoon and into the evening things will begin to go downhill with the worst effects here locally monday into tuesday. so i want to talk about why this storm is so unusual, so unprecedented and why you're starting to hear people say this could be historic. we've had a lot of hurricanes this year. we're obviously at the s named storm. this is different because it's a combination of very warm atlantic water and the system coming north. temperature today was very mild. we're still 64 degrees and it's the combination of a second piece of manager, a winter-like cold air mass that will be moving in the same direction and the two systems are going to merge off the coast and sandy will be transitioning

into another kind of almost super nor'easter type storm. i wanted to show you how chilly it is here. cincinnati 46 degrees. lincoln nebraska is 28. it was very chill lo all through the northern plains. this is -- chilly all through the northern plains. this is the coldest air we've seen so far this season and it's going to be colliding with hurricane sandy here in 36 to 48 hours. gary mcgrady is in the weather center with a little bit more. this is certainly not something we've seen in a long time. >> listen, let me show you, of course, these troughs that come on down are usually the troughs that come along and protect us keeping these hurricanes offshore are but with this trough coming in a little bit too late to guide sandy out to sea what it's actually going to do is when it gets into this position sunday into monday, it is going to start to suck sandy back onshore. it's going to provide sandy a

very, very cold atmosphere aloft, dry atmosphere aloft. so what that's going to do is it's actually going to strengthen the storm, deepen the storm. it's going to expand the wind field on sandy. so no doubt we are going to have a lot of wind here. we're going to have wind gusts 50, 60 miles per hour for a sustained period of time, very heavy rain and believe it or not, back out to the west of us, they are already issuing some winter storm watches in preparation for a good amount of snow in the upper levels of the mountains out there in the appalachian, west virginia and back up into western sections of pennsylvania. so very unusual setup and i got to be honest with you. most of us feel the same way. we're not completely sure how this storm evolves because it's just not something we've ever really seen. >> something else to bring into play here is the fact the models that we rely on so much often don't know how to handle a storm like this that will phase into another thing

altogether. let me show you those various models and something we call the spaghetti plots or tracks. in the red line you see what the national hurricane center is forecasting as their track. those lines are tightly clustered until we get later into the period. this just updated a little bit ago. in fact, these are new. i can tell you what i'm seeing on-the-fly is a lot of these models have started to track sandy farther to the north. the red line, this may also update in a few minutes. it has it very close to the mouth of the delaware bay, but many of these other models have jumped it here with our late guidance and are taking it farther north. it still get into pennsylvania. it still does some wild bloops on some of these models, but this cone -- loops on some of these models, but this cone could still move. there could be a 150 to 200- mile jump in the track. even if that track does change,

we will still have impacts here because it's a huge wind field. you'll see strong winds even as the storm does continue to make that very hard westward turn blocked by high pressure to the north. we will get drops force winds around here -- tropical storm force winds around here. wanted to show you the system and the heavy winds with it. what about your saturday? still think you can get a lot done. 3:00 saturday most of the heavy rain is down to our south. sunday morning marine corps marathon. you'll get a little rain activity, nothing terrible, but watch what happens about 5:00, the leading edge of some of that rain coming up, sunday at 11:00 seeing very heavy bands to our south and east. snow is developing in the mountains. monday morning very heavy rain. it continues through the noon hour monday and even into monday evening. so for tonight 58 degrees, just clouds. you can get some good running around done tomorrow, maybe clouds, a little drizzle. our temperature about 70

degrees and your fox 5 accuweather seven-day forecast, it's going to be about 70 degrees tomorrow, sunday 61, again going downhill sunday night, monday into tuesday also looking pretty rough. the poor kids, halloween will be chilly, 53 degrees. we hope this storm is done. i wanted to mention redskins and steelers sunday, it's going to be a very cold rainy day up there, too. it's not the sandy rain. it's the cold front rain and it will probably only be in the upper 40s. coming up at 11:00 is your home ready for the heavy rain and wind? how to make sure your property is weather the storm next on the news edge. tonight's topic on that's my take, the controversy surrounding galludet university and its chief diversity officer. >> and now that's my take with wttg vice president and general manager duffy dyer. >> it's been one crazy political season. we have up to now endured an onslaught of ads from political parties, candidates, pacs and

other for and against groups and watched as the candidates have risen and fallen in the polls as a result of debate performances. our heads are spinning with claims and counterclaims of all points of view. throw in the issues of voter access and voter fraud and your brain is close to red lining but then along came galludet university who in its indefinite wisdom decided it was inappropriate for the chief diversity officer to have signed a petition that called for the issue of same sex marriage to be put on the november ballot in maryland. so inappropriate that they suspended angela mccaskill associated with galludet for 23 years and its first deaf african american woman to earn a phd from the institution. it's quite ironic that mccaskill is the university's chief diversity officer charged with increasing awareness, facilitating open sharing of thoughts and ideas, so says their website. mind you this petition only sought to put the issue of same sex marriage on the ballot. the petition took no side in

the issue. it's unclear what mccaskill's position is on the issue and that's perfectly fine, but to place her on leave is perfectly wrong. university president alan herowitz stated the university wants to work with mccaskill toward a solution, a solution to a problem the university created. officials stated they're considering whether mccaskill's act of signing the petition impacts her ability to do her job which as i stated earlier is to foster open sharing of thoughts and ideas. galludet's action was wrong headed from the start and a delay in reinstating mccaskill only compounds the initial knucklehead in this step. that's my take. let me know what you think. go to www.myfoxdc.com and click on that's my take or send me an e-mail at tmt@wttg.com. anncr: every president inherits challenges.

few have faced so many. four years later... our enemies have been brought to justice. our heroes are coming home. assembly lines are humming again. there are still challenges to meet. children to educate. a middle class to rebuild. but the last thing we should do is turn back nonow. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

just 11 days until the presidential election, the candidates keying in on those critical battleground states. earlier i spoke with fox sunday host chris wallace. >> they'll decide the election. you can forget about 41 states. i think it's eight or nine that will decide this election and we've been hearing about them, virginia obviously one of the key ones, ohio, florida, colorado, nevada out west. they're going to decide the election and it is awfully close within the margin of error in almost every one of those swing states. almost none of them have come off the board. if anything, i would say the swing state map is expanding because there's now the possibility of minnesota and pennsylvania and michigan which have been reliably democratic states for decades possibly romney getting close there and if that happens, that obviously gives him more opportunities to

get to the 270 electoral votes he or obama needs to win. >> you mentioned virginia which is one of the key swing states. we understand you're going to have mark warner on your show this weekend. >> we are. we decided let's look at four of the key swing states. we're going to get senators from those four states, rob portman of ohio and mark warner of virginia and mark udall of colorado and ron johnson of wisconsin and talk to them. we'll talk about what's going on on the ground, early voting, ground games to get out the vote, what are the key issues. in ohio the auto bailout, in southwestern virginia concerns that obama and the epa may be stifling the coal industry. so there are a lot of specific issues in each of those states. we'll get as good of sense as you can get sunday nine days before the election of where things stand in the states that will decide the election. >> let me ask as we get down to the wire here, it seems like ever since that first debate we

started to see the momentum swing a little bit in mitt romney's favor. the next two debates people would say the president won. other people say mitt romney was still very strong. do you think the romney campaign is still swinging on that momentum because we're seeing the polls start to get closer together? >> yeah. i think that has turned the race around, not saying romney will win, but at that moment in early october obama had the possibility, he was really beginning to open up margins of six, eight, nine points in some of these key swing states, had he done as well as romney if the first debate and romney did as poorly as the president did, i think this race would be over and the fact it would be over. i think they're talking about when they travel around the country, it's all about momentum and it's all about getting out the vote. they're not going to switch people's minds. it's a e